A Guide for Writing Research Papers

based on Styles Recommended by

The American Psychological Association
Prepared by the Humanities Department
as part of
The Guide to Grammar and
Writing
and the Arthur C. Banks Jr.
Library
Capital Community College
Hartford, Connecticut
INTRODUCTION
This guide is based on recommendations of the fifth edition of the
Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association published
by the American Psychological Association (2001). This online publication
is by no means a substitute for that book, which is an extensive resource
for students engaged in serious research in psychology and the social and
behavioral sciences. If online guides like this one and other summaries
of APA style in composition textbooks, etc. do not suffice, students
should purchase the APA Publication Manual for their own use
(approximately $27 for the recommended spiral-bound edition) or borrow it
from a library. Copies should be available in college and university libraries
and in municipal libraries.
Another research guide from Capital Community College, based on the
documentation style recommended by the Modern Language Association, is
also available online. That guide contains numerous suggestions about
getting started on a research paper and a statement on avoiding plagiarism
that should prove useful to beginning researchers.
We also recommend the Capital Community College online Library and
Information Skills Tutorial as an introduction to using library and online
resources. The workbook has chapters on finding books and journal
articles, using CD-ROM databases, discovering resources on the internet,
developing critical thinking skills, and designing a search strategy. It would

be a good idea to go through the Workbook (and take its computer-graded

quizzes) before beginning a major research project.
A Sample APA-Style Research Paper, put together by Judy DeLisle, at
Valencia Community College in Florida, will show you not only exactly what
your paper should look like, but contain suggestions about the writing of
the paper. (The text you see there is actually about writing an APA-style
paper.
The APA Manual contains a great deal of material on the art of writing itself,
which this guide cannot go into. We do recommend, however, Capital's
Guide to Grammar and Writing, which provides hundreds of digital handouts
about grammar and style, over 170 computer-graded quizzes, guidance on
essay writing, and a place to ask questions about grammar and writing.

STUDENTS' QUESTIONS ABOUT MANUSCRIPT PREPARATION

1. HowdoIpreparemyMANUSCRIPT and FORMATmypaper?
(Franklin,MA)
2. HowdoIshowvariouslevelsofHEADINGSwithinmypaper?
(Somerville,MA)
3. HowdoIrepresentFIGURES and TABLESwithinmydocument?
(Knoxville,TN)
4. WhatabouttheSPACINGafterperiodsandcommasanddashes?(St.
Paul,MN)
5. HowdoIformatQUOTATIONS,APAstyle?(Philadelphia,PA)
6. IneedtomakesomelastminuteCORRECTIONS.CanImakethemon
themanuscript?(Reading,MA)

STUDENTS' QUESTIONS ABOUT REFERENCES

In APA style, the sources in a paper are listed alphabetically on a separate
page headed References. It follows the final page of the text and is
numbered. Entries appear in alphabetical order according to the last name
of the author; two or more works by the same author appear in
chronological order by date of publication date. When there are two or

more books or articles by the same author, repeat the name of the author in
each entry.
When using the examples hyperlinked below, it is important to follow the
suggested pattern closely, even to the spacing of periods, commas, etc.
1. WhatdoesareferencelooklikeforaSINGLE-AUTHOR BOOK?(West
Hartford,CT)
2. WhataboutabookwrittenbyMORE THAN ONE AUTHOR?(Lincoln
University,PA)
3. WhatifI'mnot using a first edition?(Manchester,CT)
4. HowdoIlistanEDITED VOLUME?(Danby,VT)
5. WhathappensifmybookhasNO AUTHOR OR EDITORlisted?
(Whitehead,NH)
6. IhaveaSEVERAL-VOLUME WORKhere.HowdoIlistthat?
(Cambridge,MA)
7. WhatifI'musingaquotethatIdiscoverinaSECONDARY
RESOURCE?(Orange,CT)
8. I'veusedsomeimportantdefinitionsfromareputableDICTIONARY.
HowshouldIcitethat?(FortLauderdale,FL)
9. I'vefoundsomegoodinformationinaDOCTORAL DISSERTATION.
Howwouldcreateareferenceforthat?(Sandusky,OH)
10. What'stheproperformatforaMagazine or Periodical?(Colchester,
CT)
11. I'veusedanarticlepublishedinaprestigiousSCHOLARLY JOURNAL.
HowwouldIcitethat?(Centreville,Kentucky)
12. HowwouldIhandleaNEWSPAPER ARTICLE ?(Jackson,NJ)
13. CanyougivemesomeexamplesofhowtohandleNON-PRINT
MATERIALS?(Philadelphia,PA)
14. Ihaveimportant,reliableinformationfromPERSONAL INTERVIEWS
and PHONE CONVERSATIONS.HowdoIdocumentthoseresources?
(EastHartford,CT)
15. MyprofessorjustgaveussomegreatinformationinaCLASSROOM
LECTURE.CanIusethat?(Bloomington,IN)

16. IhaveseveraldocumentsfromtheGOVERNMENT and ERICtolist.

What'stheproperformat?(BucklandHills,CT)
17. IhavediscoveredseveralresourcesusingtheINTERNET and CD-ROM
RESOURCES.HowdoIdocumentthatmaterial?(Farmington,CT)
18. I'vebeenaskedtocreateanANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY.HowdoI
goaboutthat?(anAmericaOnlineuser)

STUDENTS' QUESTIONS ABOUT PARENTHETICAL CITATIONS

Your reader should be able to discover without undue fuss the source
of any language or ideas you have used in writing your paper that are not
your own. This is an important part of being a responsible member of the
academic community. When you use the ideas or language of someone
else, you can refer your reader easily to that resource by using a
documentation technique called parenthetical citation. In parentheses, at
the end of the quoted language or borrowed idea, key words and page
numbers can refer your reader to your page of References, where he or she
can then find out whatever bibliographic information is necessary to track
down that resource.
1. I'veheardIcanavoidusingfootnotesandendnoteswithsomething
calledPARENTHETICAL CITATION.Howdoesthatwork?(Hartford,
CT)

This page is maintained by the Capital Community College Webmaster Your comments and suggestions
are appreciated. We regret, however, that we cannot answer questions about documentation issues not
addressed in this Guide to Writing Research Papers.

Most recent revision: Feb 2007

APA Style Manual

[down loaded on 4.11.2008]

Single-Author Book & Part of a Book

Alverez,A.(1970).Thesavagegod:Astudyofsuicide.NewYork:RandomHouse.

Garner,B.A.(2003).Garner'sModernAmericanUsage.NewYork:OxfordUniversity
Press.
Notice that words like "University" and "Press" are not abbreviated (unlike
the MLA style, in which such words are abbreviated without a period), but
abbreviations such as "Co." and "Inc." are omitted. Notice, too, that the
period after the title is part of the italicized portion of the citation.
If the material cited is from a foreword, preface, introduction, or afterword,
list the name of the author of the book element you are citing. Follow the
date (which might be different from the actual publication date) with the
name of the element, the title of the book, and, in parentheses, the page
number or page range on which the element appears (with p. or pp. to
indicate page or pages)
Pepin,R.E.(2003).Introduction.SelectedPoetryofCharlesDarling:19772002(pp.iv
xxii).Colchester,CT:ColophonBooks.

Book with Two or More Authors

Natarajan,R.,&Chaturvedi,R.(2003).GeologyoftheIndianOceanFloor.Hartford,
CT:MerganserUniversityPress.
Ligon,M.,Carpenter,K.,Brown,W.,&Milsop,A.(1983).Computersintheworldof
businesscommunications.Hartford,CT:CapitalPress.
Notice the hanging indent style (about half an inch after the initial line). The
abbreviation et al. (for "and others") is not used on the Reference page,
regardless of the number of authors, although it can be used in the
parenthetical citation of material with three to five authors (after the initial
citation, when all are listed) and in all parenthetical citations of material
with six or more authors. Notice that all authors are listed last-name-first
(unlike MLA style), and that an ampersand & is used before the last
name.

Edition Other Than First (Republished Book)

Creech,P.J.(2004).Radiologyandthetechnologyoftheabsurd.Boston:Houghton
Mifflin.(Originalworkpublished1975)
After the author's name, list the most recent date of publication you can
find. In the text citation, give both dates: (Creech, 1975/2004).

An Edited Volume (Anthology or Reference Book)

Stanton,D.C.,&Farbman,E.(Eds.).(2003).Thefemaleautograph:Theoryand
practiceofautobiography.Middletown,CT:IbisBookstorePress.
If you are refering to an article or signed chapter in an edited volume, your
reference would look like this:
Pepin,R.E.(2002).UsesoftimeinthepoliticalnovelsofJosephConrad.InC.W.
Darling,Jr.,J.Shields,&E.C.Farbman(Eds.),Chronologicalloopinginpolitical
novels(pp.99135).Hartford:CapitalPress.
Notice that there are no quote marks around the title of the article and that
only the first word of a title is capitalized. The names of editors are listed
first-initials-first (not reversed). The inclusive page numbers are preceded
by the abbreviations for "pages": pp.

Book Without Author or Editor Listed

Webster'sNewCollegiateDictionary.(1961).Springfield,MA:G.&C.Merriam.
To alphabetize such an entry on your Reference page, use the first
significant word of the title (ignoring the articles, "a," "an," and "the").

Multi-Volume Work
Nadeau,B.M.&Darling,J.M.(Eds.).(19942003).Studiesinthehistoryofcutlery
(Vols.46).Utica,NY:MohicanValleyRiverPress.

To refer to a single volume, include only the relevant date and volume
number. When you are referring to more than one volume, include all the
relevant volume numbers (as in the above example). The date after the
author or editor's name should include the range of years of publication
(say, if the work appeared over a number of years).

Secondary Resources
O'Connor,C.O.&DeLoatch,K.L.(2003).Whateverhappenedtothehumanities?InI.
Rubenzahl(Ed.),StudiesinByzantineIntrigue(pp.235278).Hartford,CT:
MerganserUniversityPress.
To use material that is quoted or paraphrased elsewhere when you do not
use the original resource, your reference will include the source of your
language (or idea).
In your text, you would quote or paraphrase the idea that O'Connor and
others have quoted or used, as follows:
As Villa trenchantly points out, "Perhaps the conflict seems so strong because the stakes
are so low" (as cited in O'Connor & DeLoatch, 2003).

Dictionary
ShorterOxfordEnglishdictionary(5thed.).(2002).NewYork:OxfordUniversityPress

Dissertation or Dissertation Abstract

When you have used an abstract of the dissertion found on microfilm in
Dissertation Abstracts International (DAI). If you are using a microfilm
source, include in parentheses at the end of your entry, the university
microfilm number.
Darling,C.W.(1976).Giverofdueregard:thepoetryofRichardWilbur.Dissertation
AbstractsInternational,44,4465.(AAD448794)

When you have used the actual dissertation (usually from the shelves of
the University where it was written, sometimes obtained through
interlibrary loan):
Darling,C.W.(1976).Giverofdueregard:thepoetryofRichardWilbur.Unpublished
doctoraldissertation,UniversityofConnecticut,Storrs,CT.

Magazines/Periodicals
Wheatcroft,G.(2004,June).TheTragedyofTonyBlair.TheAtlantic,2935672.
Thomas,E.&Hosenball,M.(2004,May31).Bush'sMr.Wrong:TheRiseandFallof
Chalabi.Newsweek,143,2232.
Use inclusive page numbers. Do not use the abbreviations "p." or "pp."

Reference: Scholarly Journal

Many scholarly journals number their pages consecutively throughout a
given volume. Thus, volume one might end on page 345 and the first page
of volume two would be number 345. Do not use p. or pp. to indicate page
numbers. Notice that proper nouns are capitalized in an APA-style title, but
other words are not. A comma separates the title of the journal from the
volume number, but the volume number (as well as the comma that
follows) is also italicized.
Christie,JohnS.(1993)Fathersandvirgins:GarciaMarquez'sFaulknerianChronicleof
aDeathForetold.LatinAmericanLiteraryReview,13,2129.
If that article were found in a journal in which each issue has pages
numbered separately (each issue begins with a page 1), the issue number
is given in parentheses but not in italics after the volume number.
Christie,JohnS.(1993)Fathersandvirgins:GarciaMarquez'sFaulknerianChronicleof
aDeathForetold.LatinAmericanLiteraryReview,13(3),2129.

Newspaper Articles, Editorials

Letters to the Editor, etc.
If the article is "signed" (that is, you know the author's name), begin with
that author's name. (Notice how discontinuous pages are noted and
separated by commas.) Do not omit the "The" from the title of a newspaper
(unlike the MLA technique).
Poirot,C.(2004,March17).HIVpreventionpillgoesbeyond'morningafter'.The
HartfordCourant,pp.F1,F6.
If the author's name is not available, begin the reference with the headline
or title in the author position.
Newexamfordoctoroffuture.(1989,March15).TheNewYorkTimes,p.B10.
If the text being cited is from an editorial or letter to the editor indicate the
nature of the source in brackets after the title and date.
Silverman,P.H.(2004,June).GeneticEngineering[Lettertotheeditor].TheAtlantic,
29314.

Non-print Resources (Film, Recording, Video,

television or radio program, etc.)
The source is identified in brackets after the title
Redford,R.(Director).(1980).Ordinarypeople[Film].Hollywood:Paramount.
(film with limited circulation):
Holdt,D.(Producer),&Ehlers,E.(Director).(2002).RiveratHighSummer:TheSt.
Lawrence[Film].(AvailablefromMerganserFilms,Inc.,61WoodlandStreet,
Hartford,CT06105)
(Cassette):

Lake,F.L.(Authorandspeaker).(1989).Biasandorganizationaldecisionmaking
[Cassette].Gainesville:Edwards.
(Television program):
Safer,M.(Narrator).(2004).TortureatAbuGhraib[Televisionbroadcast].Hartford:
WFSB.
(Musical recording):
Barber,S.(1995).CelloSonata.OnBarber[CD].NewYork:EMIRecordsLtd.

Personal Interview, Phone Conversation, Letter,

Non-archived E-Mail, etc.
Because this material is not recoverable (i.e., it is not possible for someone
else to see or hear it), it should not be listed in the list of References. It can,
however, be cited parenthetically within the text. It is extremely important
that what is cited in this way be legitimate and have scholarly integrity.

(interview):
Wilburfindshimselfsometimessurprisedbytheclaimsofreligiositymadeby
contemporaries.(personalletter,March28,1977)

(phoneconversation):
AccordingtoConnieMayFowler,thesourcesforhernovelSugarCanewerelargely
autobiographical(personalphoneconversation,July22,2003).

Classroom Lecture
Like personal interviews and phone conversations, material presented in a
classroom lecture is regarded as non-retrievable data. A lecture, therefore,
should be cited within the text but not be included in your References. The
model below could also be used for more formal lecture settings.

InanIntroductiontoLiteraturelectureatCapitalCommunityCollegeonApril14,2004,
ProfessorCharlesDarlingdescribedWilliamCarlosWilliams'poemasabarnyard
snapshot(C.W.Darling,ENG102lecture,April14,2004).
If the lecturer distributed material at the lecture, you could cite that
resource in your References:
Darling,C.W.(2004,April).ImagesatWorkinthePoetryofWilliamCarlosWilliams.
OutlinepresentedinaclassroomlectureatCapitalCommunityCollege,Hartford,
CT.

Government Documents
Report from the Government Printing Office, corporate author.
Example:
NationalInstituteofMentalHealth.(1982).Televisionandbehavior:Tenyearsof
scientificprogress(DHHSPublicationNo.A821195).Washington,DC:U.S.
GovernmentPrintingOffice.
Reports from a Document and Deposit Service (NTIS, ERIC) other than U.S.
government
Examples:
Tandy,S.(1980).Developmentofbehavioraltechniquestocontrolhyperaggressiveness
inyoungchildren(CYCReportNo.803562).Washington,DC:CouncilonYoung
Children.(NTISNo.P88014322).
Gottfredson,L.S.(1980).Howvalidareoccupationalreinforcerpatternscores?(Report
No.CSOSR292).Baltimore,MD:JohnsHopkinsUniversity.CenterforSocial
OrganizationofSchools.(ERICDocumentReproductionServiceNo.ED182465)

Government Documents

Report from the Government Printing Office, corporate author.

NationalInstituteofMentalHealth.(1982).Televisionandbehavior:Tenyearsof
scientificprogress(DHHSPublicationNo.A821195).Washington,DC:U.S.
GovernmentPrintingOffice.
Reports from a Document and Deposit Service (NTIS, ERIC) other than U.S.
government
Tandy,S.(1980).Developmentofbehavioraltechniquestocontrolhyperaggressiveness
inyoungchildren(CYCReportNo.803562).Washington,DC:CouncilonYoung
Children.(NTISNo.P88014322).
Gottfredson,L.S.(1980).Howvalidareoccupationalreinforcerpatternscores?(Report
No.CSOSR292).Baltimore,MD:JohnsHopkinsUniversity.CenterforSocial
OrganizationofSchools.(ERICDocumentReproductionServiceNo.ED182465)

Annotated Bibliography
An annotated bibliography will have the same basic layout as a Reference
page. There are three major differences, however. First, you can include in
your bibliography works that you think would be useful to your reader that
you might not have used in the writing of this particular paper or article.
Second, you can break down the references into useful categories and
arrange those categories in ways that you think would be helpful to your
reader. Third, you can add commentary to the references, telling your
reader the particular virtues (or, if necessary, the shortcomings) of that
resource. Commentaries should be concise, economical summaries,
written in sentence fragments; if related, fragments should be connected
with semicolons. The commentary should begin on a new line, indented
slightly from the preceding line.
NationalInstituteofMentalHealth.(1982).Televisionandbehavior:Tenyearsof
scientificprogress(DHHSPublicationNo.A821195).Washington,DC:U.S.
GovernmentPrintingOffice.

Documentsconnectionsbetweenchildren'slackofattentioninschoolandhours
oftelevisionwatching;providesscientificevidenceofchangedviewinghabitsover
tenyears.

Electronic and Online Resources

A. General Information
Electronic correspondences, such as e-mail or discussions on bulletin
boards or discussion groups, is regarded by the APA as personal
communication (like phone conversations or memos), because it is not
recoverable by others. Personal communications are cited only within the
text and not on the reference page.
However, if the information is, in fact, retrievable, the following elements
are necessary for the reference page:
Author(s),I.(dateor"n.d."ifnotdateisposted).Titleofwork.(Online),date
retrieved.NameofDatabaseorInternetaddressofthespecificdocument.Specify
URLexactly.[DonotendyourentrywithaperiodwhenendingwithanURL.]
The date should be the year of publication or the most recent update. If the
date of the source cannot be determined, provide the exact date you
retrieved the information on the Internet.
The path information should be sufficient for someone else to retrieve the
material. For example, specify the method used to find the material: the
protocol (HTTP, Telnet, FTP, etc.), the directory, and the file name. Do not
end the path statement with a period after a file name or Web address.
Just about everything of serious interest on the Internet is now available
through the hypertext transfer protocol (the familiar HTTP). Some items,
however, may still be discovered through FTP, GOPHER, TELNET, etc. (For
instance, some universities might enable a professor to archive articles,
etc. on a server accessible only through File Transfer Protocol (FTP). If you
need to cite such sources, ask your instructor or consult the AP
Publication Manual. It is not a good idea to cite resources that are available

only with a password, unless that password can be established freely and
easily (some online newspapers have password-protected archives like
that). Also, do not refer your reader to a course Website that is password
protected unless you know that all your potential readers have access to
that material.

Online article
Central Vein Occlusion Study Group. (1993. October 2). Central vein
occlusion study of photocoagulation: Manual of operations [675
paragraphs]. Online Journal of Current Clinical Trials [On-line serial].
Available: Doc No. 92
On-line abstract
You can cite an entire Web site within your text, but do not include it in
your list of References. For instance, you could say something incredibly
profound you learned from this Web page, and cite the URL at the end of
the paragraph (http://www.ccc.commnet.edu/apa/). If a line-break is
necessary when you cite an URL, make the break immeidately after a slash
mark and carefully avoid the insertion of a hyphen where none is
appropriate.
Electronic Database
College and public libraries subscribe to electronic databases such a
sEBSCO, LexisNexis, OCLC, WilsonWeb, SIRS, etc. There are also online
databases such as ERIC, PsychINFO, and Public Affairs Information
Service (PAIS). These databases contain full-text articles and article
abstracts.

Parenthetical Citation
The APA system of citing sources indicates the author's last name and the
date, in parentheses, within the text of your paper.
A. A typical citation of an entire work consists of the author's name and the
year of publication.

Example:
CharlotteandEmilyBrontewerepolaropposites,notonlyintheirpersonalitiesbutin
theirsourcesofinspirationforwriting(Taylor,1990).
Usethelastnameonlyinbothfirstandsubsequentcitations,exceptwhenthereismore
thanoneauthorwiththesamelastname.Inthatcase,usethelastnameandthefirst
initial.
B. If the author is named in the text, only the year is cited.
Example:
AccordingtoIreneTaylor(1990),thepersonalitiesofCharlotte...
C. If both the name of the author and the date are used in the text,
parenthetical reference is not necessary.
Example:
Ina1989article,GouldexplainsDarwin'smostsuccessful...
D. Specific citations of pages or chapters follow the year.
Example:
EmilyBronte"expressedincreasinghostilityfortheworldofhumanrelationships,
whethersexualorsocial"(Taylor,1988,p.11).
E. When the reference is to a work by two authors, cite both names each
time the reference appears.
Example:
Sexualselectiontheoryoftenhasbeenusedtoexplorepattersofvariousinsectmating
(Alcock&Thornhill,1983)AlcockandThornhill(1983)alsodemonstrate
F. When the reference is to a work by three to five authors, cite all the
authors the first time the reference appears. In a subsequent reference, use
the first author's last name followed by et al. (meaning "and others").

Exampleofasubsequentreference:
Patternsofbyzantineintriguehavelongplaguedtheinternalpoliticsofcommunity
collegeadministrationinTexas(Douglasetal.,1997)
Whenthereferenceistoaworkbysixormoreauthors,useonlythefirstauthor'sname
followedetal.inthefirstandallsubsequentreference.Theonlyexceptionstothisrule
arewhensomeconfusionmightresultbecauseofsimilarnamesorthesameauthorbeing
cited.Inthatcase,citeenoughauthorssothatthedistinctionisclear.
G. When the reference is to a work by a corporate author, use the name of
the organization as the author.
Example:
Retiredofficersretainaccesstoalloftheuniversity'seducationalandrecreational
facilities(ColumbiaUniversity,1987,p.54).
H. Personal letters, telephone calls, and other material that cannot be
retrieved are not listed in References but are cited in the text.
Example:
JesseMoore(telephoneconversation,April17,1989)confirmedthattheideas.
I. Parenthetical references may mention more than one work, particularly
when ideas have been summarized after drawing from several sources.
Multiple citations should be arranged as follows.
Examples:
1. Listtwoormoreworksbythesameauthorinorderofthedateofpublication:
(Gould,1987,1989)
2. Differentiateworksbythesameauthorandwiththesamepublicationdateby
addinganidentifyinglettertoeachdate:
(Bloom,1987a,1987b)
3. List works by different authors in alphabetical order by last name, and use
semicolons to separate the references:
(Gould, 1989; Smith, 1983; Tutwiler, 1989).